Tuesday, May 21, 2013

I usually try and make it to the Bethesda pit stop but this year I made it to Silver Spring while taking my daughter to school.

We were running late and the guy with the camera caught me off guard so I did a good amount of blathering.

Meanwhile, three years earlier...

It's crazy to see how much my girl has grown. I think I must be doing ok in the father department if can watch her growth and development (as well as the graying of my facial hair) in the pro-bike culture movies she's... HOLY SHIT! Am I wearing the same god damned clothes!? Jesus.

As usual it was a great event not matter the pit stop. Props to the sponsors and everyone involved.

Friday, May 10, 2013

Friday, May 3, 2013

Like biking, Slayer is one of those rare things in life that's just as much fun now as it was when I was a kid.

RIP - Jeff Hanneman

"Slayer is devastated to inform that their bandmate and brother, Jeff Hanneman, passed away at about 11AM this morning near his Southern California home. Hanneman was in an area hospital when he suffered liver failure. He is survived by his﻿ wife Kathy, his sister Kathy and his brothers Michael and Larry, and will be sorely missed. Our Brother Jeff Hanneman, May He Rest In Peace (1964 - 2013)"

Thursday, May 2, 2013

Saturday, May 4th is DC’s Mashing is FUNdamental: A Literary Alleycat. An
alleycat is a checkpoint race—you can take any route you like, but have to hit every checkpoint.
Think urban scavenger hunt on bikes. This alleycat is unlike any other: it’s literary-themed.
Half the checkpoints are libraries, where you have to check out a given book. The other half
are challenges related to DC authors, such as yelling "Oh Captain, My Captain" from the top of
the Smithsonian Portrait Gallery's steps (where Walt Whitman was once worked). The event’s
manifest (alleycat-speak for “checkpoint list”) reads something like this:

• Anacostia—1800 Good Hope Rd, SW
o Any book on social science (call number starts with 3)
• Woodridge—1801 Hamlin St, NE
o Any book on religion (call number starts with 2)
• West End—1101 24th St, NW
o Any CD (call number starts with PHONO)
• Etc. (there’s 11 stops, totaling just over 20 mi when traveled most efficiently)

At the finish line/after party at Satellite Room, riders turn in their books and manifests to verify
completion. We’ll award prizes to the fastest bikers, and raffle off additional prizes (we have
over $1,000 in merchandise to give away). There’s a second, mellower manifest; comprised of
stops relevant to DCPL (the Mellon Fountain, etc.) and DC literature (where Zora Neale Hurston
lived, Katherine Graham, Langston Hughes, etc.). This is targeted towards riders who just want
to cruise and see their city through an interesting new lens. Overall, the event is designed to
civically engage riders more than the average bike race. Riders will learn something, and can
mash it (alley-cat speak for “go really fast”) the entire way in hopes of glory at race’s-end.
And for all that the written word gives us, we wanna give back: all event proceeds go to 826DC
(826dc.org), a nonprofit organization dedicated to working with students ages 6–18 in developing
their creative and expository writing skills, and to working with teachers to inspire their students to
write.